NFL Week One Against the Spread: Houston Texans at San Diego Chargers

September 9, 2013 · No Comments

By Eric Schmidt

The first week of the 2013 NFL regular season is about to come to a close this evening and as it is every season in the opening weeks, many surprises were realized on Sunday. In the second game tonight of Monday Night Football, the San Diego Chargers will host the Houston Texans. The Texans are hoping to take advantage of their playoff window while the San Diego Chargers are simply trying to find out what they have on their roster.

Several media reports suggest that this year, the Houston Texans are going to be splitting carries in the backfield between Arian Foster and Ben Tate. That is not a bad move as the Texans have really run Foster hard in the last two seasons and Tate is a starter on over 20 other NFL teams at tailback.

The Chargers are trying to re-group from the mess that was left from the previous front office and coaching staff. QB Philip Rivers must try to find a way to limit the turnovers which have plagued his career in the last two seasons. Unfortunately for Rivers, he doesn’t have the offensive weapons he used to have. RB Ryan Mathews is still trying to find his way in the NFL and faces a fierce run defense this evening.

The Chargers should be one of the teams drafting in the top 10 in 2014 and that starts this evening.

Current lines have the Chargers as a home dog, giving 5 points despite opening at 3.5. The over/under has dropped from 46 to 45 points. I’m taking Houston, giving the points on the road and the under. Texans 27 Chargers 16.